Calendar No. 162 - GPO

1 GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICEWASHINGTON : 1 49 010 SENATE " ! 114 THCONGRESS 1st Session REPORT 2015 114 91 Calendar No. 162 SPORT FISH RESTORATION AND recreational boating SAFETY ACT R E P O R T OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ON S. 834 JULY23, 2015. Ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Jul 25, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4012 Sfmt 4012 E:\HR\OC\ SR091congress.#13 SSpencer on DSK4 SPTVN1 PROD with REPORTS(II) SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman ROGER F.

2 WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MARCO RUBIO, Florida CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii JERRY MORAN, Kansas ED MARKEY, Massachusetts DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska CORY BOOKER, New Jersey RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TOM UDALL, New Mexico DEAN HELLER, Nevada JOE MANCHIN, West Virginia CORY GARDNER, Colorado GARY PETERS, Michigan STEVE DAINES, Montana DAVIDSCHWIETERT, Staff Director NICKROSSI, Deputy Staff Director REBECCASEIDEL, General Counsel KIMLIPSKY, Democratic Staff Director CHRISTOPHERDAY, Democratic Deputy Staff Director CLINTODOM, Democratic General Counsel VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:21 Jul 25, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\ SR091 SSpencer on DSK4 SPTVN1 PROD with REPORTSC alendar No.

3 162 114 THCONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 114 91 SPORT FISH RESTORATION AND recreational boating SAFETY ACT JULY23, 2015. Ordered to be printed Mr. THUNE, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, submitted the following R E P O R T [To accompany S. 834] The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to which was referred the bill (S. 834) to amend the law relating to sport fish restoration and recreational boating safety, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and rec-ommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.

4 PURPOSE OF THEBILL S. 834 would reauthorize the Sport Fish Restoration and boating Trust Fund (the Fund) and its various uses through the end of fis-cal year 2023. BACKGROUND ANDNEEDS Since 1950, the Fund has been critical to marine and freshwater fisheries conservation, wetlands conservation and restoration, and since 1984, recreational boater safety programs in the United States. The Sport Fish Restoration and recreational boating Safety Act would reauthorize a user pays, public benefits program that collects user fees on fishing tackle and equipment, motorboat fuel, imported boats and fishing equipment, and small engines.

5 recreational fishing and boating provide substantial economic opportunities and benefits to the Nation. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, recreational anglers in the United States spent $ billion in 2011, with an estimated $56 billion impact VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:21 Jul 25, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\ SR091 SSpencer on DSK4 SPTVN1 PROD with REPORTS2 1 Sabrian J Lovell, Scott Steinback and James Hildter, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration, National Marine Fisheries Service, The Economic Contribution of Marine Angler Expenditures in the United States, 2011 (2013), available at 2 United States Coast Guard, recreational boating Statistics 2012, available at http.

6 // 3 National Marine Manufacturers Association, 2012 recreational boating Economic Study (2013), available at 4 Returns to Businesses from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program, March 3, 2011. Fish and Wildlife Service. 516 777c(a)(1). on the 2012, there were 12,101,936 recreational vessels registered in the United to a study con-ducted by the National Marine Manufacturers Association and the recreational Marine Research Center at Michigan State University in 2012, recreational boating related spending exceeded $51 billion, and overall, the total economic impact of recreational boating on the economy was $ User fees authorized under the various laws affected by the Sport Fish Restoration and recreational boating Safety Act gen-erate approximately $600 million per year for the Fund.

7 The funds are then allocated to Federal and State programs for boating safety and infrastructure, fisheries management, habitat conservation, and other related programs and activities. The program s success has helped it earn the distinction as the most successful conserva-tion and fisheries-restoration program in the S. 834 would increase slightly the amount of the Fund that goes to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for administration of the pro-gram. Though this increase is less than the administration s re-quest, it would still provide the USFWS and the USCG with addi-tional resources to better carry out existing programs.

8 The adminis-trative funds to the USFWS and the USCG will be a percentage of the total fund receipts. Because of this, the bill would change the percentages going to various other programs, but the net effect would be that the total sum of money each program receives would remain unchanged compared to the current statute. The Fund receives income from the following five sources: (1) mo-torboat fuel taxes; (2) annual tax receipts from small engine fuel used for outdoor power equipment; (3) a manufacturers excise tax on sport fishing equipment; (4) import duties on fishing tackle and on yachts and pleasure craft; and (5) interest on funds invested prior to disbursal.

9 The USFWS distributed $625 million from the Fund for fiscal year (FY) 2015. All moneys received in a given fiscal year are apportioned to the States in the following fiscal year. Fund receipts are made avail-able for eight different authorized uses, based on a statutory for-mula division of appropriations, as follows: percent to coastal wetlands programs, of which 70 percent is provided for the Corps of Engineers Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Restoration Program, 15 percent is provided to the National Coast-al Wetlands Conservation Grants Program, and 15 percent is pro-vided for the North American Wetlands Conservation percent to the USCG s Office of boating Safety to provide grants to States and nonprofit organizations for the development VerDate Sep 11 2014 05.

10 21 Jul 25, 2015 Jkt 049010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\ SR091 SSpencer on DSK4 SPTVN1 PROD with REPORTS3 616 777c(a)(1). 716 777c(a)(3). 816 777c(a)(4). 916 777c(a)(5). 1016 777c(a)(5). 1116 777c(a)(5). 1216 777c(c). and implementation of a coordinated national recreational boating safety Two percent to a competitive grant program for States to con-struct pump-out and dump stations to dispose of vessel sewage from recreational boaters. Not more than 25 percent of such amount may be used for capital improvement and infrastructure projects to support facilities that meet State requirements for mini-mizing the introduction of pollutants into Two percent to a competitive grant program that provides matching funds to States to install or upgrade docking facilities for transient recreational Two percent to the recreational boating and Fishing Founda-tion.